Cover for cans



Nov. 3 1925 w. H. 'RICHMAN 'ment in Covers for Cans, whereof the Patented Nov. 3, 1925.

UNITED stares PATENT OFFICE.

COVER FOR cans.

Original application filed IiTovember 20', 1919, Serial no. 339,436. Divided and this application filed November 2, 1922.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VALTER .H. RIGH- MAN, a citizen oi the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the countyot Phila delphia and State of Pennsylvania, lzttVB invented a certain new and useful improvefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

This invention is particularly designed and adapted for closures for containers of the class contemplated in Letters Patent oi the United States granted to me and re spectively 1,395,298 dated November 1, 1921 and 1, 32,966 dated April 18, 1922 and is disclosed in each oi said Letters Patent which were respectively granted pursuant to application Serial No. 389,436 tiled November 20, 1919, and application Serial No. 357,060 filed February 7, 1922, and, copending with my original applications respectively Serial No. 388,653 filed June 12, 1920 andSerial No. 505,845 filed October 41., 1921, for Letters Patent of the United States, both of which applications Serial Nos. 388,653 and 505,345 are divisions of said application Serial No. 339,436ofwhich latter this application is a division.

I-Ieretot'ore, covers of the general class of my present invention were formed with a straight cylindrical portion at the bottom edge which rested upon the bead upon the can; for instance, as shown'in Letters Patent of the United States 542,484 granted to A. Maag, July 9, 1895. Such covers are objectionablc first in that, as the metal is drawn from plane to; such cylindrical form, it is impossible to make such an edge precisely uniform in a plane transverse to the axis of the cylinder and, consequently, such straight cylindrical edge fails to make a tight joint with the can bead. Moreover, as such edge is'not only sharp but more or less rough, it has the effect of wearing the tin coating off the can and causing the latter to rust. Attempts have been made to avoid those objections, by rolling the lower edge of the can cover, around a wire forming a toric reinforcement at the lower edge of the cover. However, that construction is not only costly but is objectionable because it is notonly desirable but necessary to have cans in which dairy products are kept entirely free from crevices, because such products quickly decompose and become rancid Serial No 598,506.

and even a very small quantity oi such decomposed matter will deleteriously afiect any fresh ice-cream or other dairy products, even if they do net come in contact therewith, but are merely near enough to absorb the odor. Therefore, an essential feature of my invention is that my improved cover has neither a straight cylindrical edge, nor a rolled edgccapable of retaining any dairy product, but is outwardly flared in hell form so as to turn the sharp edge of the cover metal away from the can bead upon which the cover must rest, and to :to'rm upon the cover an inner rounded surface for contact with said head, adapted to seal the joint between the cover and the can, with the minimum amount of wear upon the can bead. Moreover, such construction and arrangement of the lower edge of my improved cover stiiiens and reinforces the same to such a degree that it is not deformed by ordinary usage, as is the case with can covers which have plain cylindrical edges, such as shown in said Maag Letters Patent. Fur thermore, as hereinafter described, my improved cover is so curved'that it may he :torined from aplane sheet by a single pressing operation, and yet have the maximum degree of rigidity against deformation axially within the limits of its extent.

My invention includes the various 'novel features. of construction and arrangement hereinafter more definitely specified.

In said drawing: Fig. I is a plan view of a cover embodying my improvement.

Fig. II is a side elevation. of said cover, and Fig. III is a vertical sectional view of said cover and its handle taken on the line III, HI in Fig. I.

In said figures; the cover 1, which is formed as aforesaid from a primarily plane sheet of metal, has a central portion 2 which remains plane, surrimnded by a downwardly converging annular curved portion 3 forming a toric zone, which merges into another toric zone st of shorter radius of curvature in planes radial to the axisot said cover, and the latter zone 1-, merges into the cylindrical portion 5, forming an annular zone in coaxial relation with the other transversely curved Zones above described. Said cylindrical zone 5 merges into an outwardly flared toric none 6 terminating in the cut edge 7 cut e "ge of the plane sheet from which said which was primarily the circular cover has been pressed. As above noted, said zone 6 has an inner rounded surface 8, affording a smoothly continuous bearing for the cover to rest upon the supporting bead 10 of the can body 11.

Inorder to facilitate manipulation of said cover, I find it convenient to provide the same with the handle 13, which is formed of a primarily plane strip of sheet metal, which is depressed at its central portion, toward the can rover 2, so as to present a rounded under surface to the hand of the operator. That portion of the handle is in fact thus shaped as a sector of a cylinder, and merges, by downwardly curved portions 15, into the spacing members 16. Said spacing members not only hold said handle portion 13 in such spaced relation with the top 2 of the cover as to permit the operator to freely manipulate the same, but extend in such angular relation with the axis of the cover as to afford the maximum strength and rigidity to resist the stresses to which said handle and cover are subjected in placing the cover on and removing it from the cans. Said spacing members 16 terminate in outwardly extending pads or flanges 17- parallel and in contact with said can cover top 2. Although said handle may be secured to the cover by any suitable means connecting said flanges 17 with the cover portion 2, I prefer to form a pair of pointed depressions 18 in said flanges 17, during the operation of forming the handle from a plane sheet, and to spot weld the handle and cover together at those projections, so that said handle and cover are thus integrally connected, without rivets or solder. Of course, the structure above described, which is preferably formed of ferric metal, such as sheet iron or steel, would, if unprotected, be liable to corrosion when subjected to contact with salt water which is employed to form the freezing mixture in which such cans are generally kept. Therefore, said structure is covered with tin by any convenient method or means.

I do not desire to limit myself to the precise details of constriution and arrangement herein set forth, as it is obvious that various modifications may be made therein, without departing from the essential features of my invention, as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a cover for a can; the combination with a single piece of metal forming a plane central circular area; an annular toric zone of outwardly convexly curved configuration, ad oining said plane central circular area, and in coaxial relation therewith; a second annular toric zone of shorter transverse curvature than said first toric zone and in coaxial relation therewith; a cylindrical zone in coaxial relation with said other zones and merging into said last named toric zone; and an outwardly flared toric zone at the free end of said cylindrical zone; the metal of said cover being internally convexly curved at said free edge, to form a continuous annular bearing surface in a plane at right angles to the common axis of said zones, and within the free edge of said cover, which edge is flared outwardly to such a degree that it cannot bear upon the can for which said cover forms a closure and said outwardly flared edge constitutes a reinforcement for said inner annular bearing surface of said cover and preventing deformation thereof under the stresses to which such covers are normally subjected; and a handle for said cover including a sectoral cylindrical portion extending parallel with said plane central'area, spacing members at opposite ends thereof, extending to said cover in such outwardly diverged relation as to afford resistance to the lateral stresses to which such handles are subjected, and flange pads on said handle in contact with said cover; said handle having projections pressed in the metal thereof toward said cover and spot welded to the latter.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed mynameat Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this thirty-first day of October, 1922.

WALTER H. RICHMAN. 

